


Vibrato

by Progman



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff, Hidden Talents, Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2018-05-04 03:48:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5319287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Progman/pseuds/Progman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asami often finds herself singing when no one's around, and Korra often finds Asami.</p><p>It took a surprising amount of time for those two things to happen at once.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vibrato

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vannymore](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vannymore/gifts).



> For Vannymore. And sherbies, but she doesn't have an account, so I can't do the thing with the gifting.

“...I once loved a sailor; once a sailor loved me…” sang Asami.  Her voice echoed through her garage as she slid out from beneath her roadster.  Regular maintenance.  Nothing special, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t get her hands dirty.  Among other things.

Asami stood up and stretched her arms. “But she was not a sailor...” she crooned, wiping the grime and oil off of her tools. “...who sailed on the wide blue sea…”

It was an old habit.  Singing.  Almost unconscious at this point in her life.  When things were quiet, and she was alone, she’d slip into a sort of trance.  One where the rise and fall of her voice, her subtle, natural vibrato, made more sense than everything else in the world.  She supposed it was similar to humming, or tapping one’s foot.

“...she sailed in an airship…” Asami carefully pulled off her goggles and set them down on her toolbox.  “...sailed like a bird on the wing.” She took off her gloves and retied her hair, brushing back a few loose strands. “And every evening at midnight, she would come to my window and sing…”  

Singing was...something to ensure all parts of the mind were active when focused on a singular item.  Keep things moving in the right direction, even if it was just blood flow.  It all added up, ideally.  

“I thought you couldn’t sing,” Korra whispered, her eyes wide in awe.

Of course, the downside of having one’s mind being entirely occupied was that it didn’t leave much room for situational awareness.  Like, for example, when a certain curious girlfriend walks into the room and somehow manages to sit on your workbench undetected.

“Hm? Oh. Yes.” Asami blushed and averted her eyes, staring very intently at the steering wheel.  “I...that---it’s not...” She bit her lip.  “It’s a reflex.  I don’t even know why I do it.  I’m not very good.”

“Yeah.  You really are,” she said, nodding several times.

“You’re just saying that.”

“Asami, have I ever been the kind of person who just says things?”

Asami rubbed the back of her neck “Well, no, I suppose not but---”

“Then there you go.  You’re really good.”

Asami cleared her throat and forced herself to look back at Korra.  “Thank you.  I’m not used to doing this in front of others.  I don’t think I ever have.”

“Never?”

“When I was very young, I think, but other than that…” Asami chuckled anxiously.  “It’s just been something that happens.”

Korra was silent for a moment.  “Your mother used to sing this…”

Asami tilted her head into a sad smile.  Must everything be about her parents?  Was it really so common that something would remind her of some memory of long ago that would tighten her chest and---yes, yes it was.  It was exactly that common.  

But not a certainty.

“No.  Not everything is quite so meaningful.” Asami settled next to Korra and shook her head.  “It’s just a lovely song.”

“I think I kinda like that better.  It’s simple.  Easy.”

“If only more things were.”

“You are.  For me, at least.”

Asami rested her head on Korra’s shoulder.  “Love you, too.”  

Korra kissed her on the corner of her lips.  “You don’t have to sing for me.”

“I wasn’t thinking that.”

“Yes you were.”

"I want to." Asami huffed.  “It just doesn’t feel right.  I don’t know why.”

Korra nodded.  “And I’m telling you that that’s okay---”

“Actually I do know,” blurted Asami.  “It feels incredibly intimate, when I’m singing.  And, when anyone else is around, I just---it doesn’t feel right to expose myself like that.  I know it’s just a talent, like anything else, but for some reason…” Asami frowned. “That’s just how I feel.”

Korra considered her for a moment.  “Intimate, huh?”

Asami’s eyes widened.  “Oh!  I’m so sorry, that’s not what I meant.  I doubt I’d have trouble singing in front of you, but it’s just new, maybe?”  She squeezed Korra’s hand.  “I really do want to.”

Korra squeezed back. “I think this is more important to you than you thought.”

Asami snorted and bowed her head.  “I think you’re right.”  And it was.  It was new, yes, but also something she hadn’t really shown anyone.  A part of herself that she’d never really taken the time to know, despite understanding it on a more intellectual level. No one had judged it yet.

“Mhmm.” Korra smiled and leaned forward.  “So what did she sing?”

“What?”

“You stopped at ‘she would come to my window and sing’.”

“Oh.  I guess I did, didn’t I?” Asami blushed again.  She might as well.  It always felt good to share, anyway.  And singing was most likely no different.  “It goes, uhm---right, so, it goes into the chorus.” She cleared her throat and closed her eyes.  “Come take a trip in my airship, come sail away to the stars. No one will see while we're kissing, no one will know as we swoon.” She swayed back and forth, bumping Korra’s shoulder. “So come take a trip in my airship, and we'll visit the spirit of the moon…”

“Wow,” whispered Korra, her voice wavering.

Asami opened her eyes and found tears welling in Korra’s.  She wiped them away and gave her a confused smile.  “Was it the part about the moon spirit?”

“No!  No, you’re just---you have no idea how beautiful your voice is.  How is that possible?”

“Never stopped to check, I guess.”

Korra chuckled.  “All the more reason to keep going.  What’s the rest?”

Asami gave her a sidelong glance.  “You really don’t know this song?  It was very popular when we were growing up.”

“Of course I do, but not the way you sing it!  I need to hear the rest!”

Asami’s heart swelled. “You sure you can handle it?”

“Absolutely.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Vanny planted this idea in my head in one of our many, many conversations about whatever it is that we talk about, and initially it was going to be the most angsty thing I'd ever written, but this evening, for whatever reason, I just felt like something simple and heartwarming (assuming it is, can't write fluff, no idea) was needed. Like, today. As in: Somebody needed to read this ~as soon as humanely possible~ and I was honest to God scared of what would happen if I didn't write this.
> 
> It's hard to explain. It was a gut feeling, okay? If I'm wrong, then bam, more fluff. Everyone likes fluff. If I was right, well, I don't know. But maybe something good came out of it. 
> 
> Yes, this technically takes place during RRaU (can you guess between which chapters???), but I can't gift individual chapters, so it's its own thing.
> 
> The song, for those curious, is "Come Take a Trip in my Airship" by George Evans and Ren Shields. It's super old, because it's from 1904, and no rendition of anything close to Asami's version exists because Sinatra nor Crosby never picked it up. So just imagine a crooner/Ella Fitzgerald singing it and it should make sense. I don't typically borrow from our world in terms of media, but I figured this was an exception to that rule because of the age of the song and how 'universal' it is.
> 
> (Altered) Lyrics are as follows:
> 
> I once loved a sailor  
> Once a sailor loved me  
> But she was not a sailor  
> Who sailed on the wide blue sea  
> She sailed in an airship  
> Sailed like a bird on the wing  
> And every evenin' at midnight  
> She would come to my window and sing
> 
> Come take a trip in my airship  
> Come sail away to the stars  
> No one will see while we're kissing  
> No one will know as we swoon  
> So come take a trip in my airship  
> And we'll visit the spirit of the moon
> 
> One night while sailin' away from the crowds  
> While idly drifting, watching the clouds  
> She asked if I'd name the day
> 
> Just by the crescent, I gave her my heart  
> The sun shone on our honeymoon  
> We swore to each other, we never would part
> 
> And we'd teach all the children this tune  
> Come take a trip in my airship  
> Come sail away to the stars  
> No one will see while we're kissing  
> No one will know as we swoon  
> So come take a trip in my airship  
> And we'll visit the spirit of the moon


End file.
